current single: “HEAVENS TO BETSY”

Jackson Dean’s dad has always been supportive of his music. In fact, it was Jackson’s dad who encouraged Jackson to get out and play live after he really started learning how to play guitar, and Jackson will never forget that first night because of the powerful moment he shared with his dad while he was on stage.

Jackson Dean – first performance for dad :55

“My dad was like, ‘Hey, learn a couple songs and I’ll take you to an open mic.’ And I was like, ‘No … no.’ It’s not what I wanted to do. Finally, I was like, ‘Okay, fine. I’ll do it for you so you’ll just stop askin’ me.’ And my parents know everybody and their mother in that town, so there ended up being about 150 people in a room where there should not be 150 people. And I learned ‘The Cost of Livin’ by Ronnie Dunn, and if you’ve ever heard that song, that song is my father to a T. Now, he’s all the way in the back, leaning up against the wall behind everybody, and I’m up there. And he’s got this light shining down on him, and nobody can see him. The room is dead silent and I’m just staring right at him. He’s just standing there crying. If you’ve never stared your father down while he’s just crying and you’re doing something that is making him proud, that’s a hard thing to do. And after that, I was like, ‘Maybe I do have something here,’ and just kept it going.”